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SABBATII=SCHOOL LESSONS
_
Studies in the Gospel Message
FOR
SENIOR CLASSES
Fourth quarter, 1902
LESSON I.—THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS.
October 4, 1902.
QUESTIONS ON DANIEL 7:1-8.
I. At what time was this vision given to Daniel?
2.
In what ways did he impart the dream to others?
3.
What picture was brought before him in his night
vision?
4.
What was seen to come from the stormy sea?
5.
What was the appearance of the first beast?
What peculiarity did the prophet observe about it?
6.
What changes appeared while the prophet was
looking?
7.
What was the appearance of the second beast?
What was its position? What special circumstance was
noted about it? What command was given to it?
8.
What was the appearance of the third beast?
What was the first peculiarity noted? The second?
9.
What was given to this third beast?
What three adjectives are used to describe the
fourth beast? What did it have?
H. What was the fourth beast seen to do?
12.
How did it compare with the other beasts?
The offerings for this quarter go to the most needy fields.
4
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
13.
What marked peculiarity was noted about the
fourth beast?
14.
What change took place as the prophet was
watching the horns? How was this change brought
about?
15.
What two particulars are given in describing the
appearance of this little horn?
NOTES.
The first year of Belshazzar was 540 B. C. It was
formerly supposed that Belshazzar was the same as
Nabonadius in secular history, whose reign began in
555 B. C. (hence the date in the margin), but later
researches have proved that Belshazzar was the son of
Nabonadius, and that his reign dated from 540 B. C.
More than sixty years have, therefore, passed away
since Daniel interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar,
as recorded in the second chapter of Daniel. In the
meantime great changes have taken place in the king-
dom of Babylon, and the great empire is approaching
its end.
Daniel's vision, as recorded in this seventh chapter,
stands, evidently, in close relationship to Nebuchad-
nezzar's dream of the second chapter. The language
of this vision makes it plain, and the common consent
of Protestant interpreters emphasizes the fact, that the
four beasts of this chapter represent the same four
kingdoms as were represented in the different parts of
the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The lion is
Babylon, the bear is Medo-Persia, the leopard is Grecia,
the great and terrible beast is Rome. But, as in the
second chapter, the chief purpose of the dream was not
to set forth the mere fact that there would be four
world-kingdoms, so in this vison these four kingdoms
We expend sixty per cent of our efforts upon four per cent of our field.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
5
are again brought forward, not merely to state their
place in history, but in order to locate definitely the
territory, the time, and the work of a kingdom small
in territorial dimensions, but world wide
in
power--the
kingdom of antichrist. This will appear more plainly
as we proceed with the lessons.
HISTORICAL EXTRACTS.
"In the vision of the first year of Belshazzar, these
four empires are symbolized by the four great beasts—
the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the great and terrible
nondescript beast. The lion of the vision in the first
year of Belshazzar, therefore, corresponds to the head
of gold of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and consequently
represents Babylon.
"Being first 'a lion with eagle's wings,' it well repre-
sents the mighty power and swiftness" of the conquests
of the Babylon of the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Then
it was 'that bitter and hasty nation,' whose horses were
`swifter than the leopards,' and whose horsemen should
'fly as an eagle that hasteth to eat.' And afterward the
same lion, with his wings plucked, and lifted up from
the earth, and made to stand on his feet as a man, with
a man's heart, well represents the same kingdom of
Babylon shorn of its vigor, its power, and its majesty,
as it was after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, through
the reigns of the five weak and wicked kings whom we
have been obliged to notice in that period.
"As the lion corresponds to the head of gold of the
great image, and so represents Babylon, so the bear
of this vision corresponds to the 'other kingdom
inferior' to Babylon, represented in the breast and arms
of silver of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
"One dollar now is of more value to the work than ten dollars will be at
some future period."
6
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
Then in the vision of the third year of Belshazzar,
which occurred in the very last days of Babylon, just as
it was about to pass away, only three symbols are used
—the ram, the goat, and the little horn which became
`exceeding great;' and the first of these is plainly
declared by the angel to be 'the kings of Media and
Persia.' This demonstrates, therefore, that the king-
dom of the Medes and Persians was represented by
the symbol of the bear, and was the one referred to
when Daniel, in explanation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream
of the great image, said to him, 'After thee shall arise
another kingdom inferior to thee.' " ("Great Empires
of Prophecy," page 35.)
"Another symbol of this third, or Grecian, empire
is a leopard having four wings. The symbol of the
Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar was a lion with eagle's
wings, signifying that in the rapidity of his conquests
he would 'fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.' The
four wings upon the leopard could signify nothing less.
And so it was with Alexander; for 'from Macedonia to
the Ganges, very near to which Alexander marched,
is computed at least eleven hundred leagues. Add to
this the various turnings in Alexander's marches,
. . . we shall find that Alexander, in less than
eight years, marched his army upward of seventeen
hundred leagues, without including his return to
Babylon.' " (Id., page 185.)
"The boundaries of the actual conquests of the
Roman armies—the limits to which the Roman soldiers
actually marched and conquered—were marked by the
Tigris, the Danube, the Rhine, the Firth of Forth, the
Atlantic Ocean, the Desert of Sahara, the Desert of
Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. And Gibbon's elegant
lines alone would mark in Rome the fulfilment of the
Nine-tenths of the women of India never heard of a Saviour.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
7
prophecy of 'the fourth kingdom:' The arms of the
republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always vic-
torious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphra-
tes, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the
images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve
to represent the nations and their kings, were suc-
cessively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.' "
(Id., page 319.)
LESSON II.—THE JUDGMENT.—THE POS-
SESSION OF THE KINGDOM.
October
11
,
1902.
QUESTIONS ON DANIEL
7:1-18.
I. What did Daniel next behold in his vision?
2.
Who took His position as judge?
3.
What description is given of the Judge?
4.
What description is given of His throne?
-
5.
What remarkable thing was next observed?
6.
How many were in attendance upon the Judge?
7.
What definite statements interpret the meaning
of the scene presented before the prophet?
8.
What next attracted attention in the vision?
9.
How is the final experience of the ten-horned
beast described?
To. What was taken away from the other beasts?
What was granted to them?
I1.' Who now appears as one of the actors in the
vision?
12.
How and where does He come?
13.
What was given unto Him? For what purpose?
The needs of the cause of God are world wide.
8
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
14.
What is declared concerning His dominion and
kingdom?
15.
How did the vision affect the prophet Daniel?
16.
How did he seek to learn the meaning of the
vision? With what result?
17.
What were the four beasts said to be?
18.
Who would afterward take the kingdom? How
long would they retain it?
NOTES.
The judgment scene here described is evidently the
same as the one Mentioned in Rev. 2o:11-13, where it
is stated that "the dead were judged." It is the great
assize of the world, when all that have lived upon the
earth have a case in court. The time of the sitting
of this final court of award is not given here, but will
appear from other prophecies.
The little horn is so closely identified with the fourth
beast that when the attention of the prophet is called
to it by reason of the great words which it spoke, he
noted the slaying of the beast and the burning of his
body.
A remarkable person is here introduced in the vision.
He is none other than the Son of man. The kingdom
given to Him, "which shall not be destroyed," is evi-
dently the same as the fifth kingdom of the second
chapter, "which shall never be destroyed." Compare
Rev.
:15, R. V.
The kingdom which is said in verse 14 to be given to
the Son of man is said in verse i8 to be taken by the
saints of the Most High. Thus it appears that• when
the' kingdom is given to the Son of man it is given to
the saints in Him. Compare Rev. 3:21.
Babylon took the kingdom, but could not retain it.
The Son of God beggared Himself to enrich us.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
9
Medo-Persia then took the kingdom, but could not
retain it. Grecia followed, and then Rome, but neither
of them could retain the kingdom. What these great
kingdoms could not do with all their power, the saints
of the Most High are to do by the power of faith in
Christ Jesus:. I John 5:4.
LESSON III.—THE FOURTH KINGDOM AND THE
LITTLE HORN.
October 18, 1902.
QUESTIONS ON DANIEL 7:19-28.
I.
Of what part of the vision did Daniel desire
a more full interpretation? How did he distinguish
the fourth beast from the others? How were its teeth
and nails described? What is said of its action?
2.
Of what special feature of this beast did Daniel
desire a further understanding? What was his final
point of inquiry? How is this little horn here de-
scribed?
3.
In what contest did he see this horn to be
engaged? With what result?
4.
What event brought an end to this warfare?
What time had then come?
5.
What was the fourth beast then declared to be?
6.
How would this kingdom compare with the
others?
7.
How is its history briefly stated?
8.
How were the ten horns interpreted?
9.
What appeared after the ten horns were in full
view? How did the eleventh horn compare with the
ten? How did this king secure his territory?
Prayerfully consider the unentered fields,
•
I0
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
to. How did this king act towards the Most High?
1. How did he treat the saints of the Most High?
12.
HoW did he regard the law of the Most High?
What power was given to him? For how long a time?
13.
What would be the experience of this king in
the time of the judgment?
14.
To whom would the kingdom be given? How
is the duration of this kingdom emphasized?
15.
What effect did this vision have upon the prophet
Daniel? Did he make the matter public?
NOTES.
From the definiteness of the inquiries concerning
the fourth beast and the ten horns, and especially con-
cerning the little horn, it is evident that this part of
the vision made the deepest impression upon the mind
of the prophet. Here, then, we may expect to find
the objective point of the vision. The first three king-
doms serve as so many stepping-stones to reach and
locate the fourth kingdom. The little horn is closely
identified with the fourth beast, and yet it has an inde-
pendent history and work. The career of the little
horn in its work of opposition to the establishment of
the fifth kingdom, the kingdom of the Most High, is
presented with a fulness of description which makes
it clear that this is the main theme of the vision. The
fourth kingdom is Rome. The ten horns are the ten
kings or kingdoms which arose in the territory of
Rome as, the result of the inroads of the barbarians.
This was accomplished between A. D. 395 and A. D.
476. "The ten [kingdoms] are the Alemanni, the
Franks, the Burgundians, the Suevi, the Vandals, the
Visigoths, the Saxons, the Ostrogoths, the Lombards.
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
II
and the Heruli." ("Great th
e'
of Prophecy," page
677.) "After them" rose the
-
little horn, which sub-
dued three kings. "The three that were plucked up
by the roots were the Heruli, the Vandals, and the
Ostrog
-
oths; and the date of the plucking up of the
first of the three is March 5, A. D. 493, and of the last,
March, „^„. D. 538." (Id., page 680.) Dr. L. Gaussen
gives the following fourteen marks by which it can be
demonstrated that the little horn is the Papacy: (t) A
priest-king:
,
(2) the location of its territory; (3) its
origin and growth; (4) the time of its rise; (5) the ter-
ritory acquired; (6) its sagacity; "in this ho'rn were
eyes like the eyes of man;" (7) its deceivableness; (8)
its unusual pomp; (9) its language; (to) the duration of
its blasphemies; (ii) the character of its blasphemies;
(f2) its persecution of the saints; (13) its heresies, its
attempted change of the law; (14) the exact length of
its power.
LESSON IV.—MODERN BABYLON.
Oc/ober 25, 1902.
From our study of the vision of the seventh chapter
of Daniel, it is evident that the lion stands for Babylon,
the bear for Medo°:Persia, the leopard for Grecia, the
nondescript beast for Rome political, the ten horns for
the ten kingdoms into which Rome was divided, and
' the little horn for Rome ecclesiastical, or the Papacy.
It is also evident that the rise and work of the fourth
beast and the little horn constitute the leading theme
of the vision.
"Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborerS
into His harvest."
12
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
The book of Revelation is the complement of the
book of Daniel, and deals wholly with the period of
time during which the fourth beast and.the little horn
are upon the stage of action. In the book of Reve-
lation we may therefore expect to find additional light
given, which will assist in the more complete under-
standing and interpretation of the vision of the seventh
chapter of Daniel.
A careful reading of Rev. 13:1-To makes it clear that
the beast there described is closely related to the
fourth beast and the little, horn of the seventh chapter
of Daniel. It has some characteristics of each of the
first three beasts. Verse
2.
This shows that this
power reaches back through the third and second
kingdom to the first. It has ten horns. Verse I. It
is a blasphemous power. Verse 5. The same length of
time is assigned to it as to the supremacy of the little
horn. Verse 5. It carried on a warfare against the
saints. Verse 7. By comparing these specifications
with those given in the seventh chapter of Daniel, as
applying to the fourth beast. and the little horn, the
conclusion is certainly warranted that the subject of the
two prophecies is the same.
The beast of Rev. 17:3 is identical with the beast of
Rev. 13:1, and therefore with the fourth beast of the
seventh chapter of Daniel. Observe the seven heads,
the ten horns, and the names of blasphemy.
By the interpretation given to the woman sitting on
the beast (Rev. 17:18) and the interpretation given to
the seven heads (verse 9), it is evident that she repre-
sents Rome; not political Rome, but the Rome which
built itself up and fastened itself upon political Rome.
This is ecclesiastical Rome, the Papacy. It is re-
markable that this• is the only ecclesiastical organi-
"The advent message to the world in this generation"—our watchword.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
13
zation which ever took its name from a city. But
the name given to this woman in the prophecy is
Babylon. Rev. 17:5. This identifies ecclesiastical
Rome, the Papacy, with ancient Babylon, and shows,
that the pretended religion of the Papacy is simply
paganism, a revival of the sophistical philosophy of
the wise men of Babylon, presented under some of the
forms and names of Christianity. In the light of this
lesson we can see the importance of studying the prin-
ciples involved in the history of ancient Babylon, for
those experiences are being repeated in modern Bab-
ylon, the Papacy, and we are called to proclaim the
same truth in modern Babylon as was Daniel in ancient
Babylon.
QUESTIONS.
1.
What kingdoms do the four beasts of the seventh
chapter of Daniel represent?
2.
What do the ten horns represent?
3.
What does the little horn represent?
4.
What is the principal theme of the vision?
5.
How is the book of Revelation related to the
book of Daniel?
6.
What period of time is covered in the book of
Revelation?
7.
How is the first beast of the thirteenth chapter
of Revelation connected with the first three beasts of
Daniel 7?
8.
What serves to connect this beast with the
fourth beast of Daniel 7?
9.
What is the' first specification which connects it
with the little horn? The second? The third?
to. What shows that the beast of Revelation 17 is
identical with the first beast of Revelation 13, and so
with the fourth beast of Daniel 7?
"There shall be delay no longer"—our confidence.
14
STUDIES
IN
TILE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
t. What statements make it clear that the woman
sitting upon the beast of Revelation 17 is ecclesiastical
Rome?
12.
What name is given to this woman in the
prophecy?
13.
What conclusion follows concerning the teach-
ings of the Papacy?
14.
Why ought we to study the principles brought
out in the history of ancient Babylon?
15.
In what respect is our experience like that of
Daniel?
LESSON V.—THE PERVERSION OF CHRISTIANITY
IN rIODERN BABYLON.
November 1, 1902.
The fundamental experience of Christianity is found
in the union of divinity and humanity, through which
righteousness is revealed in the flesh. Rom. 8:3, 4.
This mystery of godliness is Christ in the flesh (t Tim.
3:16, R.
-
V.), the same flesh and blood which we have
(Heb. 2:14). This wonderful union of divinity with
humanity in the person of Him who is both Son of map
and Son of God is the foundation upon which the
church is built. Matt. 16:13-18; i Cor. 3:11. The
perversion of this truth is the perversion of Christianity.
In the epistle to the Galatians it is emphatically
taught that there is but one gospel (chapter 1:6-9), and
that, as emphasized in this epistle, is the gospel of
justification by faith. The personal experience
-
of this
.
"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to
harvest."
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
15
gospel of justification by faith means Christ dwelling
in oi'r flesh. Gal. 1:15, 16;
2:20; 2
Cor. 4:10,
This is the test of the genuineness of our Christianity.
2
Cor. 1.3:5. Any perversion of the doctrine of justi-
fication by faith, the doctrine of a Saviour who has
taken the same flesh as we bear and who dwells in our
sinful flesh, is a perversion of Christianity.
In the paganism of ancient Babylon the doctrine that
God dwells with flesh found no place. Dan.
2
:11.
The same pagan denial of this truth is perpetuated in
modern Babylon in the dogma of the immaculate con-
ception of the Virgin Mary. According to this dogma,
Jesus did not take the same sinful flesh that we have,
and thus, instead of actually dwelling in our flesh as our
righteousness, He is so far removed from us that we
require the mediation of saints, angels, and the blessed
Virgin in order to 'gain access to Him..
The following extracts from "A Short and Simple
Exposition of Catholic Doctrine," issued under the
authority of "John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of
New York," will give an authoritative statement of
this dogma: "It is the Catholic belief that the blessed
Virgin was, by a special privilege, preserved immacu-
late, that is, free from the stain of original
.
sin, from
the first moment of her conception." ("Catholic Be-
lief," page 212.)
After quoting from' the church fathers in proof of
this doctrine, the writer continues: "Add to all this
that disbelief in the immaculate conception of the
blessed Virgin Mary would imply belief in the following
revolting consequences; namely, that He who is holi-
ness itself, and has an infinite horror of sin, took
human nature from a corrupt human source, whilst He
might have taken it from an incorrupt one; . . .
The offerings for this quarter go to the most needy fields.
16
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
that the divine Person drew the precious blood of His
humanity from a source which was not from the first
immaculate, whilst He might have preserved it im-
maculate. . . . Who can believe that, it being in
the power of God to prepare a spotless, holy temple
wherein to dwell incarnate for nine months, He pre-
ferred to have one which had been first profaned by
the stain of original sin." (Id., pages
217, 218.)
Having removed Jesus so far from us by giving Him
an entirely different kind of flesh from what we have,
this modern Babylon naturally substitutes justification
by works for justification by faith. "It is clear, accord-
ing to the Church of Rome, that the ground of a sinner's
justification is not without him, but within him. He
is justified, not because Christ has satisfied the law in
his room, but because the man himself has become
such as the law requires; or, as Romish divines are
accustomed to say, the
formal
cause of justification is
inherent
or
infused
righteousness. The death of Christ
has to do with our justification only in so far as it has
merited the infusion of those good. dispositions which
are the formal cause of our justification, and whereby
we perform those good works which are meritorious
of an increase of grace and eternal life. . . . The
Roman Catholic scheme, therefore, is very clearly one
of salvation by good works." ("The Papacy," by Rev.
J. A. Wylie, pages 291, 292.)
When we remember that the only hope of salvation
has been made to rest upon the promised Seed (Gen.
3:15), who has to come in our flesh, and thus bring into
our own flesh the power to conquer sin, a power which
is received by believing on Him (Rom. 1:16), we can
see how completely Christianity has been perverted in
modern Babylon.
We expend sixty per cent of our efforts upon four per cent of our field.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
T
7
QUESTIONS.
1.
What is the fundamental experience of Chris-
tianity?
2.
What is the result of this experience?
3.
In whom is this mystery of godliness revealed?
4.
What kind of flesh did He have?
5.
What constitutes the foundation for the Christian
church?
6.
How strongly is it emphasized that there is only
one gospel?
7.
What relation does this gospel establish between
Christ and the believer?
8.
What distinguishes a genuine from a pretended
Christianity?
9.
What teaching is so identified with Christianity
that a perversion of it constitutes a perversion of Chris-
tianity?
Io. What doctrine of ancient Babylon showed that
its religion was paganism?
It. Under what form has this paganism been taught
in modern Babylon?
12.
What authoritative statements are proof of this?
13.
What other erroneous teaching naturally follows
this perversion of Christianity?
14.
To whom is the sinner taught by the Church of
Rome to look for justification?
15.
What is the only hope of our deliverance from
sin?
"One dollar now is of more value to the work than ten dollars will be at
some future period."
18
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
LESSON VI.—THE KINGDOM OF ANTICHRIST.
November 8, 1902.
The symbol of the little horn finds its fulfilment in
a man. Daniel 8:8, 24. This is the "man of sin" (2
Thess. 2:3), the antichrist (2 John 7, R. V.). The dis-
tinguishing characteristics of this enemy of God's king-
dom are plainly set forth. He does not acknowledge
the revelation of the Son of God in our flesh (i John
4:3); he puts himself '(humanity) in the place of God
(Divinity) (2 Thess. 2:4) ; he speaks against God, per-
secutes His people, and thinks to change His law
(Dan. 7:25). It is evident that these scriptures all
apply to one and the
.
same system or person. Thus
the seventh chapter of Daniel is a prophecy of the rise
and work of the little horn, the man of sin, antichrist,
who attempts to establish a kingdom with himself as
king under the cover of a profession of loyalty to the
kingdom of God.
In ancient Babylon there was undisguised opposition
to the God of heaven. The temple and worship of
Belus were entirely distinct from the temple and Ivor-
ship of God. Dan. 1:2. The creed of Babylon openly
denied the very essence of Christianity. Dan.
2:11.
The head of modern Babylon seeks to hide the real
character of his work by assuming Christian forms and
names. 2 Thess. 2:4. While pretending to be the
vicegerent of God, he is in reality the vicegerent of
"that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan." Com-
pare Rev. 13:2 with Rev. 12:9. This system is called
"the mystery of iniquity" (2 Thess. 2:7) in distinction
from "the mystery of godliness" (i Tim. 3:16). "The
mystery of. godliness" is the revelation of Christ in our
Nine-tenths of the women of India never heard of a Saviour.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
19
flesh; "the mystery of iniquity" is the revelation of self
(which is really the revelation of Satan) in our flesh.
The o•ne is the exaltation of Christ; the other is the
exaltation of self. The one is Christianity; the other
is paganism. The one means a belief in God; the
other means a belief in self. The one means justifica-
tion by faith; the other means justification by works.
QUESTIONS.
I.
What appearance did the little horn present to
the prophet Daniel?
2.
In the interpretation of the vision what was the
little horn said to he?
3.
What term does the apostle Paul apply to this
same enemy of God's kingdom?
4.
What term is used by the apostle John in de-
scribing the same one?
•
5. What does the apostle John give as the essential
mark of antichrist?
6.
What does the apoUe Paul say. that the man of
sin would do?
7.
How does the prophet Daniel describe the career
of the little horn?
8.
What do these passages taken together show to
be the real subject of the vision of the seventh chapter
of Daniel?
9.
How complete was the distinction between the
religion of ancient Babylon_ and the true religion?
to. In what essential feature did the creed of Babylon
differ from-the truth of Christianity? •
II.
How does modern Babylon attempt to deceive
the world?
12.
What does the pope claim to be? What is he
in reality? Show this from the Scripture.
The needs of the cause of God are world wide.
20
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
13.
What name does inspiration give to the Papacy?
14.
With what is this in direct contrast?
15.
What is the significance of each of these terms?
16.
In what teaching does each one find its expres-
sions?
LESSON VII.—CHANGING THE LAW OF THE
KINGDOM
November 15, 1902.
The little horn, the Papacy, antichrist, blasphemes
the Most High, and wages war against the saints
(Dan. 7:25), but the climax of his rebellious course is
found in his purpose to change the law of God (sane
verse). This little horn was given special authority
for a period of 1,26o years. Compare Dan. 7:25: Rev.
12:14, 6. and. Rev. 13:5. See also Eze. 4:5, 6, and
Num. 14:34. The beginning of this period was marked
by the overthrow of the third of the "three kings"
(Dan. 7:24), the Ostrogoths, March, A. D. 538, and its
close by the capture of Pope Pius Sixth by the French
army under General Berthier, A. D. 1798.
The actual change made in the law of God by the
little horn, the Papacy, may be seen by comparing the
ten commandments as found in Exodus 20 with the
ten commandments as found in the standard Catholic
catechisms. For convenience of reference the ten
commandments, as they appear in the "General Catho-
lic Catechism," are printed here:—
"i. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have any
strange gods before Me. 2. Thou shalt not take
The Son of God beggared Himself to enrich us.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
2 f
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Re-
member that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
4.
Honor thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not
kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou
shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's wife. Jo. Thou shalt not covet thy neigh-
bor's goods."
This change in God's law, without regard to its spe-
cial character and significance, is equivalent to a dec-
laration of independence of God, and is an act of high
treason against the sovereignty of God. It is impor-
tant, however, that we should study the significance of
the specific change which has been made.
By the term "the Sabbath day," in the third com-
mandment, the Papacy means the first day of the week,
commonly called Sunday. The Roman Catholic
Church acknowledges that it has made this change,
and claims the power to do so. The following extract
is from the "Doctrinal Catholic Catechism," page 173:
"Q.—Have you any other way of proving that the
church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A.—Had she not such power . . . she could not
have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first
day of the week, for Saturday, the seventh day, a
change for which there is no scriptural authority."
"The observance of Sunday is solely a law of the Cath-
olic Church." (Father Enright, Feb.
22,
1884.) "The
Catholic Church, . . . by virtue of her divine mis-
sion, changed the day from Saturday (the seventh day)
to Sunday (the first day of the week)." ("Catho•lic
Mirror," Sept. 23, 1893.) All standard Catholic works
endorse these claims.
Now the Sabbath of the Lord is a sign between the
Prayerfully consider the unentered fields.
22
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
Lord and His people, based upon the fact of creation.
Ex. 31:17. This creative work was wrought through
Him who afterwards took the flesh. John i:1-3, 14.
Redemption is a creative work
.
(Eph. 2:10), and our
hope of redemption is based upon the fact that the
Redeemer is the Creator (Col. 1:14-17, R. V.). Com-
pare Isa. 43:1. This creative power works salvation
for those only who believe (Rom. 1:16), in whose
hearts the creative Presence dwells (Eph. 2:22; 3:17).
It therefore follows that "the Sabbath of the Lord is
the sign of what Jesus Christ is to those who believe
in Him. The observance of it by faith—the true ob-
servance of it—brings into the life of the believer in
Jesus, as nothing else can,
the living presence and power
of Jesus Christ."
But this is simply the experience of
justification by faith. To the believer, therefore, the
Sabbath of the Lord is the sign of justification by faith.
When the Papacy perverted Christianity by separating
Jesus Christ, Creator and Redeemer, from sinful flesh.
and substituted justification by works (self salvation)
for justification by faith (salvation through the indwell-
ing .presence of Jesus Christ), it substituted the sign
of its own power, the first-day .sabbath, for the sign
of the Lord's power in salvation, the seventh-day Sab-
bath.
°
The Papacy has put man in the place of God
(2 Thess.
2:3,
4), humanity in the place of Divinity.
•
It has put tradition in the place of the Word of God;
it has substituted justification by works for justification
by faith, and has thus changed the law of faith into
the law of works. In harmony with all this it has
changed the written law of God, and has substituted
a spurious sabbath, the sign of its pretended power,
in the place of the true Sabbath, the sign of the genuine,
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
23
creative power of God unto salvation. What more
could the little horn do to hinder the purpose of God
to establish His kingdom in the hearts of men through
their faith in His gift of His Son to-the human family?
QUESTIONS.
I. What specific act marks the rebellion of the
Papacy against God?
2.
For how long a time was special authority con-
ferred upon the Papacy? Give the Scripture proof.
3.
What designated the beginning of this period?
4.
What event and date designated the close of the
period?
5.
What is the difference between the law of God
as given in the Bible and as given in its changed form
in Catholic catechisms?
6.
What statements show that the Catholic Church
admits that it has changed the law, and claims the
authority to do this?
7.
What is the Sabbath, and upon what is it based?
8.
Through whom was the work of creation accom-
plished?
9.
What is the nature of the work of redemption?
to. Upon what does our hope of salvation rest?
II.
Who are personally benefited by this creative
work?
12.
What does this show the Sabbath of the Lord
to be?
13.
How can the same conclusion be stated in
another form?
14.
How was the work of the Papacy in changing
the Sabbath the logical result of its false doctrine of
justification?
15.
What has the little horn done to thwart the pur-
The offerings for this quarter go to the most needy fields.
24
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
pose of God to establish a kingdom in the earth which
"shall stand forever"?
LESSON VIII.—THE VISION OF THE RAM, THE
GOAT, AND THE LITTLE HORN.
November
22, 1902.
"In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a
vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after
that which appeared unto me at the first. And I saw
in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was
in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of
Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river
Ulai. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, be-
hold, there stood before the river a ram which had two
horns; and the two horns were high; but one was
higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and
•
southward; and no beasts could stand before him,
neither was there any that could deliver out of his
hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified
himself. And as I was considering, behold, an he-
goat came from the west over the face of the whole
earth, and touched not the ground; and the goat had
a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the
ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing be-
fore the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his
power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and
he was moved with choler against him, and smote
the
ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power
in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down
•
"Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers
into His harvest."
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
25
to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was
none that could deliver.the ram out of his hand. And
the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly; and when
he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead
of it there came up four notable horns toward the four
winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth
a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the
south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious
land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven;
and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to
the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magni-
fied itself, even to the Prince of the host; and it took
away from Him the continual burnt-offering, and the
place of His sanctuary was cast down. And the host
was given over to it together with the continual burnt-
offering through transgression; and it cast clown truth
to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.
Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy
one said unto that certain one which spake, How long
shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-
offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to
give both the sanctuary and the• host to be trodden
underfoot? And he said unto me, Unto two thou-
sand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then
shall the sanctuary be cleansed [margin, "justified"]."
Dan. 8:1-14, R. V.
QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT.
I. When was this vision given to
-
Daniel? How
long was this after the vision of the seventh chapter?
2.
Where were the scenes located which Daniel
saw in this vision?
3.
What did the prophet first see in his vision?
How many horns did this ram have? What is said of
"The advent message to the world in this generation" -our watchword.
26
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
their size? What distinction was noted between them?
4.
What did the ram do? With what result? How
is his experience described?
5.
What next attracted attention in the vision?
What special feature is mentioned about the goat?
6.
How did the goat attack the ram?
7.
What particulars are given of this attack? What
was the result of it? Why was not the ram rescued
from the fury o•f the goat?
8.
What effect did this victory have upon the goat?
What happened at the height of his power? What
took the place of the notable horn?
9.
What was the next step in the vision? How is
the experience of this horn described?
JO. What indicates the greatness of its self-exalta-
tion?
T. How did it treat the heavenly host?
12.
What is the climax of its self-exaltation?
1.3. How does it interfere with the established wor-
ship and the place of worship?
14.
What was given into the power of this horn?
For what reason?—"Through transgression."
15.
How is its own course of prosperity described?
16.
What actors are now introduced in the vision?
17.
What inquiry did one make of the other?
18.
What prophetic answer was made?
NOTES.
•
In the remaining part of the chapter, which will form
the basis of the next lesson, the interpretation is given
to the ram, the goat, and the little horn, and so any
special reference to this interpretation will be omitted
from this lesson. It is evident, however, that the main
purpose of the vision is to set forth the rise and work
"There shall be delay no longer"—our confidence.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
27
of the little horn. Here the interest centers. Here
the most detail of description is given. And that part
of the work of the little horn which is most empha-
sized is its attitude toward the worship and service of
God as connected with the sanctuary and its services.
This attitude is plainly one of self-exaltation and of
opposition to the true worship of God. This will be
more fully developed in the later lessons.
The Revised Version of this chapter is used, as being
in some respects more clear than the Authorized Ver-
sion. The text is printed in the lessons for the benefit
of any who may not have a copy of the Revised Version
at hand.
LESSON IX.—THE INTERPRETATION OF THE
VISION.
November 29, 1902.
"And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had,
seen the vision, that I sought to understand it ; and,
behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a
man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of
Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man
to understand the vision. So he came near where
stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell
upon my face; but he said unto me, Understand, 0
son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of
the end. Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into
a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he
touched me, and set me upright. And he said, Behold,
I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time
of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed
"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to
harvest."
28
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
time of the end. The ram which thou sawest that had
the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece; and the
great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof
four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the
nation, but not with his power. And in the latter time
of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to
the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understand-
ing dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power
shall be mighty, But not by his own power; and he
shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do
his pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and
the holy people. And thfough his policy he shall cause
craft to prosper in his hands; and he shall magnify
himself in his heart, and in their security shall he de-
stroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince
of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. And
the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath
been told is true; but shut thou up the vision; for it
belongeth to many days to come. And I Daniel fainted,
and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the
king's business; and I was astonished at the vision,
but none understood it." Dan. 8:15-27, R. V.
QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT.
I. After seeing the vision what did Daniel seek to
learn?
2.
Who then stood before him? What did h, hear?
3.
What command was issued?
4.
What effect did his presence have upon Daniel?
•
5. What was the first statement made concerning
the vision?
6. What effect did his speaking have upon Daniel?
The offerings for this quarter go to the most needy fields.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
29
7.
What did the interpreter of the vision then do?
What did he promise to make known? At what time
did he locate the matter?
8.
What interpretation was given to the ram of the
vision?
9.
What interpretation was given to the he-goat?
1o. What was the significance of the great horn of
the goat?
t. What interpretation was given to the four horns
which succeeded the great horn? What is said of their
power?
12.
How is the next kink described? When would
he stand up?
13.
How is his power described? How is his con-
duct described?
14.
How will he cause his wrong course to appear
right?
15.
What mention
—
is made of his self-exaltation?
What further statement is made concerning his rela-
tion to others?
16.
What marks the climax of his rebellious course?
How will he come to his end?
17.
What was said about the days mentioned in the
vision? What instruction was given about the vision?
Why?
18.
What effect did the vision have upon the health
of the prophet Daniel? What effect did it have upon
his mind? Was the vision understood?
NOTES.
The vision of the eighth chapter was given only two
years after the vision of the seventh chapter, and stands
in close relation fo it. In the vision of the seventh
chapter the whole period of time covered by Babylon,
We expend sixty per cent of our efforts upon four per cent of our field.
30
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
both ancient and modern, is dealt with, and by the aid
of later prophecies it appears that the pagan principles
of ancient Babylon are revived under Christian forms
and names in modern Babylon, and are taught as the
truth in the place of the genuine gospel of salvation.
This connection between ancient and modern Babylon
having been established in the vision of the seventh
chapter and the additional visions of John covering
the same period, ancient Babylon now drops out of
view, and the whole attention is directed to the out-
working of its principles in modern Babylon. Enough
particulars are given to locate with definiteness the
territory and the time of the little horn, and these speci-
fications are so explicitly interpreted in this lesson that
all doubt is removed in their application. In the field
of view of this vision we have the kings of Media and
Persia, the king or kingship of Greece (margin, "Ja-
van"), with particular mention of "the first king," Alex-
ander the Great, and the "four kingdoms" into which his
kingdom was divided soon after his death. "Then, 301
B. C., twenty-two years after the death of Alexander
the Great, when all his house, whether relatives, or
posterity, had perished, the empire conquered by `the
prince of Grecia' was divided among themselves, by
Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander,
`toward the four winds of heaven,' as follows: In the
north, Lysimachus [had] Thrace, Bithynia, and some
smaller provinces of Asia Minor. [In the] east Se-
]eucus [hadl Syria and all the country to the river
Indus. [In the] south Ptolemy [had] Egypt, Libya,
Arabia, and Palestine. [In the] west Cassander [had]
Macedon and Greece." ("Great Empires of Proph-
ecy," page 199.)
The kingdom of Javan included Macedonia as well
"One dollar now is of more value to the work than ten dollars will be at some
future period."
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
3
1
as Greece. Alexander the Great was the son of
Philip [I, the king of Macedon, and "at twenty years
of age succeeded Philip a king of Macedon and head
of Greece, B. C. 336." Thus it was from Macedon
that "the prince of Grecia" went forth to conqUer
Medo-Persia, and when the great horn was broken
and the kingdom was divided into four kingdoms,
symbolized by the four horn
.
s, it was out of the Mac-
edonian horn that there "came forth a little horn, which
waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward
the east, and toward the glorious land."
The conquest of Macedonia marked the world-wide
supremacy of Rome. "This victory, which destroyed
the kingdom of Macedonia, and added that country
finally to the Roman Empire, was gained in the battle
of Pydna, June
22,
i68 B. C. • 'Thus perished the em-
pire of Alexander the_ Great, which had subdued and
Hellenized the East; one hundred and forty-four years
after his death. . . . Polybius dates from the bat-
tle of Pydna
the full establishment of the empire of Rome.
It was, in 'fact, the last battle in which a civilized state
confronted Rome in the field on a footing of equality
with her as a great power.' " ("Great Empires of
Prophecy," pages 243, 244.)
A comparison of the prophecies of the seventh and
eighth chapters of Daniel and other prophecies with
the record of history makes it clear that the "king of
fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,"
who arises "in the latter time" of the four kingdoms
which succeeded the kingdom of Alexander, is the
same power as is represented by the fourth beast of
the seventh chapter, including the ten horns and the
little horn. This is Rome. And the little horn of the
eighth chapter represents Rome in both of its phases,
Nine-tenths of the women of India never heard of a Saviour.
32
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
—Rome pagan and Rome papal, the former a kind
of picture of the latter ; "for what were the Cxsars,
king and priest of the Roman world, but types of that
more terrible power, temporal and spiritual, that was
to center in the chair of the popes?"
(J.
A. Wylie,
LL. D., author of "The History of Protestantism.")
LESSON X.—THE CONTINUAL SERVICE.
December 6, 1902.
The reality of the whole gospel is found in God's
gift of His Son to humanity and man's acceptance of
this gift through his faith. John 3:16. This means the
forgiveness of sins. Gal. 1:3, 4. This means fulness
of life. John 1o:to. This means the utter overthrow
of the devil (Heb. 2:14), and a complete victory over
death (Isa. 25:8). All this was involved in the origi -
nal promise of the Seed of the woman, who should
bruise the serpent's head. Gen. 3:15. Thus was a
Saviour promised who identified Himself with human-
ity (Luke 2:1o, t), that sin might be condemned and
righteousness fulfilled in our flesh (Rom. 8:3, 4). This
complete gospel was revealed in the sanctuary, the
central idea of which was the indwelling _presence of
God. Ex. 25:8. This divine presence was manifested
in the holy of holies, over the mercy-seat, and between
the cherubim. Ex. 25:21,
22.
In the typical service
performed by the priests, especially in .the offering of
gifts and sacrifices, the separation which sin had made
between God and His people (Isa. 59:1) was overcome,
the people found access to God, and a continual fellow-
ship was established between God and His people.
The needs of the cause of God are world wide.
STUDIES
Tilt GOSPEL. MESSAGE.
33
"The daily service consisted of the morning and eve-
ning burnt-offering [Ex. 29:38-42], the offering of
sweet incense on the golden altar [Ex. 30:7, 8], and
the special offerings for individual sins. . .
Every morning and evening a lamb of a year old was
burned upon the altar, with its appropriate mea t-
offering, thus symbolizing the
daily consecration
of the
nation to Jehovah, and their
constant dependence
upon
the atoning blood of Christ. . . . In the offering
of incense the priest was brought more directly into
the presence of God than in any other act of the daily
ministration. . . . The incense, ascending with the
prayers of Israel, represents the merits and intercession
of Christ, His perfect righteodsness, which through
faith is imputed to His people, and which can alone
make the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God.
Before the veil of the most holy place was an altar of
perpetual intercession,
before the holy an altar of
con-
tinual atonement.
By blood and by incense God was to
be approached,—symbols pointing to the great Medi-
ator, through whom sinners may approach Jehovah
[Heb. 10:19-22], and through whom alone mercy
and salvation can be granted to the repentant, be-
lieving soul. . . . The showbread was kept ever
before the Lord [Num. 4:7], as a perpetual offering.
Thus it was a part of the daily sacrifice. . . . Ic
was an acknowledgment of man's dependence upon
God for both temporal and spiritual food, and that it
is received only through the mediation of Christ.'
("Patriarchs and Prophets," pages 352-354.) 'Iles(
offerings were all
continual
offerings, just as the breast-
plate of judgment was a
continual
memorial (Ex. 28:29,
30), and as the light of the lamps was a
continual
light
(Lev. 24:2). Thus was performed a
continual
service,
The Son of God beggared Himself to enrich us.
•
34
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
through which was revealed the
continual
intercession.
(Heb. 7:24, 25) of the
continual
One (Heb.
R. V.),
and by which the abiding
(continual)
union is main-
tained (John 15:4).
•
QUESTIONS.
1.
In what Scripture statement is the whole gospel
summed up?_
2.
What relation does the gift of Christ sustain to
forgiveness of sin?
3.
For what purpose did Christ come in the flesh?
4.. What has been made sure by His death in the
flesh?
5.
How will He 'finally dispose of death itself?
6.
In what original promise was all this involved?
7.
In what experience did the Saviour. identify
Himself with humanity?
8.
What was accomplished by the manifestation of
the Son of God in sinful flesh?
9.
What was the central idea in the preparation of
the sanctuary? What was thus revealed?
to. Where did the Lord meet and commune with
His people?
II. What was accomplished in the typical service of
the sanctuary?
12.
What constituted the continual burnt-offering?
When was it offered?
13.
When was the continual incense-offering made?
.
14.
What was symbolized by the continual burnt-
offering?
15.
What did the continual incense represent?
16.
What was found before the inner veil?
17.
What was found before the outer veil?
18.
Who was set forth in these continual offerings?
Prayerfully consider the unentered fields.
STUDIES IN TILE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
35
19.
What was the lesson of the continual showbread?
20.
How and for what purpose was the breastplate
of judgment used in the typical service?
21.
For what purpose were the lamps to be supplied
with oil?
22.
What idea was emphasized in all these offerings
and services?
23.
What kind of service was thus performed in the.
sanctuary?
24.
What was revealed through it?
25.
What was thus maintained?
LESSON XL—TAKING AWAY THE REAL
PRESENCE.
December
13, 1902.
The sanctuary and its services constituted a parable
of the Messiah. Heb. 9:8, 9, R. V. "The whole wor-
ship of ancient Israel was a promise, in figures and
symbols, of Christ." Christ Himself associated the
temple with His own body. John 2:19-21. "He was
the One in whom all the Jewish ceremony and typical
service was to find its fulfilment. He stood forth in the
place of the temple; all the offices of the church cen-
tered in Himself alone." Christ is the eternal priest.
Heb. 5:4-6. .Christ is the real sacrifice. Heb. 7:26, 27;
Eph.
5:2.
When Christ was lost out of the sanctuary
and its services, then what was an actual provision
for a defense against sin became mere ceremonialism,
an excuse for sin and an offense to God. Isa. 1:ro-18.
The
continual
service of the sanctuary (r Chron. 16:37)
found its fulfilment in Christ. He is a priest "after
"The advent message to the world in this generation"—our watchword.
36
STUDIES IN TIIE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
the order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 5:1o), whose priest-
hood is expressly declared to be a
continual
priesthood
(Heb. 7 :1-3). In the type the priesthood passed from
one to another in a
continual
succession (Heb. 7:23),
but in the fulfilment of the type Christ is the only
priest, "because He
continueth
ever" (Heb. 7:24). In
the type the priests offered continually and repeatedly
the same sacrifices, but Christ's one sacrifice is
con-
tinual.
Heb. to:1, II, 12. (Note.—In the Greek the
same expression is used in verse 12 and translated
"forever" as is used in verse 1 and there translated
"continually." , In Rotherham's translation the, expres-
sion "for the uninterrupted continuance" is used in
both verses.) Thus the
continual
priesthood and the
continual
sacrifice of Christ are the assurance of 'a com-
plete salvation. Heb. to:7, 24, 25. The typical serv-
ice had no efficacy in itself. Heb. Io:I, 4. There must
be spiritual worship with God in Christ as the center
upon which faith must be fastened. Phil. 3:3.
In the Revised Version of the eighth chapter of
Daniel the word "burnt-offering" is supplied after
the word "continual." This was doubtless done because
the expression "the continual burnt-offering" occurs so
frequently in the directions concerning the service of
the tabernacle. But the ground covered by the word
"continual" in the eighth chapter of Daniel is plainly
broader than merely one feature of the tabernacle or
temple service. It includes the
permanent essence of
the whole service,
that "which can alone make the wor-
ship of sinful beings acceptable to God," whether that
worship is offered with or without any ritual service,
with or without any typical temple and typical sacri-
fices. See I Peter 2:4, 5; Ps. 4:5; 51:16-19. This
essential thing in the
continual
service is a present
"There shall be delay no longer
,
'—our confidence.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
37
Christ, "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world," as "the living sacrifice for a fallen world." To
offer up such spiritual sacrifices demands such a union
between Christ and the believer that the believer him-
self, in Christ, becomes a priest (Rev. i :6), he becomes
the temple (1 Cor. 3:16), he becomes the offering (Rom.
12:1). This is that union of divinity and humanity
which is "the mystery of godliness," whereby the
church becomes the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23), and
each individual a member (I Cor. 12:27). It follows,
then, that to take away the continual service, or that
which is continual, is to have a temple without Christ
in it, a 'priesthood without Christ, a sacrifice without
Christ, and a church without Christ. But this changes
the worship of God into idolatry, and substitutes pagan-
isn't for Christianity, while retaining the names and
forms of Christianity. And this is just what the little
horn, the Papacy, has done.
•
QUESTIONS.
1.
What was the teaching of the sanctuary and its
services?
2.
What connection did Jesus make between the
temple and Himself?
3.
Who is the real priest represented by Aaron?
4.
Who is the real sacrifice?
5.
What would change the ritual service into cere-
monialism and make it offensive to God?
6.
What kind of service was maintained in the
temple? In whom did it find its fulfilment?
7.
What was the order of Christ's priesthood?
What is stated concerning this priesthood?
8.
How many priests were there in the type?
Why?
"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to
harvest."
38
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
9. How many priests are there in the antitype?
Why?
to. How many sacrifices were offered in the type?
Why?
t. How many sacrifices are offered in the antitype?
Why?
12.
What blessed consequence grows out of the con-
tinual priesthood and the continual sacrifice?
13.
Was there any benefit from the mere ritual serv-
ice? Why not?
14.
What kind of worship only is acceptable to God?
15.
What is included under the expression "the con-
tinual" in the eighth chapter of Daniel? Show the
force of this in the texts to which attention is directed.
16.
What is this essential thing in the service and
worship of God?
17.
In the genuine spiritual worship what does the
believer become through his union with Christ? Give
three answers.
18.
What does such a union with Christ as this con-
stitute? What does the church thus become? What
does each individual become?
19.
What then is the result of taking away "the con-
tinual"?
zo. What does the worship of God thus become?
What is substituted for Christianity?
21.
What power has exactly fulfilled these specifica-
tions?
The offerings for this quarter go to the most needy fields.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
39
LESSON XIL—THE TWO MYSTERIES.
December
20, 1902.
The secret or mystery which was revealed unto
Daniel (Dan. 2:19) in a night vision was fully revealed
as a fact to all the world when "the Word became
flesh." This was the mystery of godliness (I Tim.
3:16), the essence of Christianity. During the life-
time of those who proclaimed this pure gospel to the
world, the prophecies of the seventh and eighth chap-
ters of Daniel began to.be fulfilled. In writing to the
church at Thessalonica concerning• this matter the
apostle Paul also throws additional light upon these
previous prophecies.
2
Thess. 2:3-12. Compare "the
falling away" of verse 3 with the "transgression" of
Dan. 8:12, R. V. Compare the "man of sin" of verse
3 with the horn in which were eyes and mouth. Dan.
7:8. Compare the self-exaltation of verse 4 with that
of Dan. 7:25 and 8:1o, 11, R. V. This "man of sin"
is evidently the very one who is the leading subject
of the prophecies of the seventh and eighth chapters
of Daniel. And Of this man of sin it is distinctly stated
that he substitutes himself for God in the sanctuary serv-
ice.
2
Thess. 2:4. And the work which culminated in
this self-deification, which had already begun in Paul's
time, is called "the mystery of iniquity."
2
Thess. 2:7.
It thus appears that the work of the Papacy in corrupt-
ing the true temple service by taking away the
continual
is accomplished by putting man in the place of God,
thus substituting the mystery of iniquity for the mys-
tery of godliness. This means substituting tradition
for the Bible, the authority of the church for the com-
mand of God, the civil power for the power of the
We expend sixty per cent of our efforts upon four per cent of our field.
4
0
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
Spirit, justification by works for justification by faith,
and the outward and the visible in worship for that
which is spiritual. The result is a mere human organi-
zation instead of the church of Jesus Christ.
The tabernacle in the wilderness, and later the tem-
ple, was a copy of things in heaven. Ex. 26:30. By
the rending of the veil of the temple at the time of
the offering of the true sacrifice (Mark 15:38), it was
intended to mark the close of the earthly priesthood
and ministry. Type had now met antitype. "By
virtue of His death and resurrection He [Christ] be-
came the minister of the 'true tabernacle, which the
Lord pitched, and not man.' " Under the enlighten-
ing influence of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pente-
cost the apostle Peter beheld Jesus as our high priest.
Compare Acts
2 :32,
33 with Heb.
8:I, 2.
By taking
the flesh and offering Himself for man, Jesus took
away the typical continual service (Dan. 9:27), which
had degenerated into mere ceremonialism,, and revealed
the eternal reality in its place. This was the mystery
of godliness. In its work of corrupting Christianity,
the Papacy has taken away the
continual,
the real pres-
ence, and has put an earthly service, in the 'place of
the heavenly. "Popery has a god of its own,—him,
even, whom the canon law calls the 'Lord our God.'
It has a saviour of its own,—the church, to wit. It
has a sacrifice of its own—the mass. It has a medi-
ator of its own—the priesthood. It has a sanctifier
of its own—the sacrament. It has a justification of its
own—that even of infused righteousness. It has a
pardon of its own—the pardon of the confessional; and
it has in the heavens an infallible, all-prevailing advo-
cate, unknown to the gospel,—the 'mother of God.'
It thus presents to the world a spiritual and saving
"One dollar now is of more value to the work than ten dollars will be at some
'
future period."
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
4
1
apparatus for the salvation of men, and yet it neither
sanctifies nor saves any one. It looks like a church; it
professes to have all that a church ought to have; and
yet it is not a church. It is a grand deception---`the
all deceivableness of unrighteousness.' " This is the
mystery of iniquity.
QUESTIONS.
I. How has the mystery revealed to Daniel been
made manifest to all?
2.
What is the inspired definition of this essence
of Christianity?
3.
What prophecy is especially valuable in the
understanding of the seventh and eighth chapters of
Daniel?
4.
What specific points of comparison make it evi-
dent that the theme of this prophecy is the same as in
Daniel's prophecies?
5.
What does the man of sin do to destroy the value
of the temple service?
•
6. What expression is used to define this effort to
shut God out of His own temple?
7.
What light does this prophecy throw upon the
method by which the Papacy takes away the "con-
tinual"?
8.
In what particulars does it appear that the Papacy
has put man in the place of God?
9.
What is the result of these changes?
Jo. Of what was the tabernacle a copy?
H.
What was the significance of rending the veil
of the temple?
12.
By virtue of what experiences did Christ become
the minister of the true tabernacle?
13.
What shows that the apostles recognized this
ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary?
Nine-tenths of the women of India never heard of a Saviour.
4
2
STUDIES
IN T1
GOSPEL
MESSAGE.
14.
What did Jesus take away by the offering of
Himself on the cross? What did He establish in its
place?
15.
How has the Papacy attempted to make of none
effect this work of Jesus and His ministry in the
heavenly sanctuary?
16.
What has popery substituted for "the gospel of
God . . . concerning His Son Jesus Christ our
Lord"?
17.
What does the apostle Paul call this perversion
of the gospel?
LESSON X111.--TIF. REAL PRESENCE RESTORED.
December 27, 1902.
The gospel is the divine provision for salvation from
sin. Rom. 1:16. It supplies righteousness to the
believer. Verse 17. This is the gospel of the mani-
fested life (1 John 1:1, 2) through which we are brought
into fellowship with God (verse 3). The Son of God
took the flesh in order that we might be brought into
the same relationship and fellowship with God. Gal.
4:4, 5• This relationship is established on our part
through our faith in Jesus, the Son of God. Gal.
3:26, R. V. This faith lays hold upon the righteous-
ness of God (Rom. 3:20-22), and he who exercises it
is justified by it. Justification by faith is the basis of
-
salvation for the whole world (Gal. 3:8), Jew as well
as Gentile (Gal. 2:15, 16). The experience of it is the
experience of the real presence of Christ in the service
of the living temple, the mystery of godliness.
In taking away the continual, the real presence, the
Papacy struck at the very heart of the gospel, and took
away justification by faith, changing the law of faith
The needs of the cause of God are world wide.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
43
into the law of works, and substituting the mystery
of iniquity for the mystery of godliness. This ought
to be clear from the lessons already studied. The
Reformation of the sixteenth century was an attempt
to restore this fundamental doctrine of Christianity.
Says D'Aubigne, the historian of the Reformation:
"The church had fallen, because
the great doctrine of
justification by faith in the Saviour had been taken away
from her.
It was necessary, therefore, before she
could rise again, that this doctrine should he restored
to her. As soon as this fundamental truth should be
reestablished in Christendom, all the errors and ob-
servances that had taken its place,—all. that multitude
of saints, of works, penances, masses, indulgences, etc.,
—would disappear. As soon as the one only Mediator
and His only sacrifice were acknowledged, all other
mediators and sacrifices would vanish. 'This article of
justification,' says a man whom we may consider en-
lightened on this matter [Luther], 'is what creates the
church, nourishes it, edifies it, preserves and defends
it; no one can teach worthily in the church, or oppose
an adversary with success, if he does not adhere to this
truth.' This,' adds the writer whom we quote, in allu-
sion to the earliest prophecy, 'is the heel that shall
bruise the head of the serpent.' " ("History of the
Reformation," vol. I, page 9o.)
The teaching of the Scriptures on the subject of jus-
tification by faith was both the cause of the Reforma-
tion and the power for the Reformation. It brought
light to the mind of Luther, the monk at Wittemberg.
D'Aubigne says: "In the retirement of his quiet cell
he used to consecrate whole hours to the study of the
divine Word, this epistle of St. Paul [to the Romans]
lying open before him. On one occasion, having
The Son of God beggared Himself to enrich us.
44
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
reached the seventeenth verse of the first chapter, he
read the passage from the prophet Habakkuk: 'The
just shall live by faith.' This precept struck him.
. . . This promise, which he received into his
heart, as if God Himself had placed it there, unveils
to him the mystery of the Christian life, and increases
this life in him." ("History of the Reformation," vol.
1, page 186.) "This powerful text has a mysterious
influence on the life of Luther. It was a
creative
sen-
tence, both for the reformer and the Reformation. It
was in these words God then said, 'Let there be light;
and there was light.' " (Id., page 198.)
In our day a message is to be given announcing the
fall of the church (Rev. 14:8), and a call is to be made
for a separation from this fallen church (Rev. 18:1-4).
This movement is to carry to a successful issue the
work of the Reformation, and its keynote must be
the same,
"The just shall live by faith."
It is clear then
that the purpose of the third angel's message, the mes-
sage against the beast and his image, must be "to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord" by restor-
ing the continual, which the horn, the Papacy, has
taken away, and that this can be done only through
the ministry of the experience of the real presence of
Christ in the heart, the experience of the doctrine of
justification by faith.
QUESTIONS.
I. 'What is the gospel?
2.
What is revealed in it to the believer?
3.
Under what other form of statement is this same
gospel taught?
4.
What is the result of accepting this gospel of life:?
5.
For what purpose was the Son of God "born of
a woman"?
Prayerfully consider the unentered fields.
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
45
6.
How do we accept the offered relationship of
sons?
7.
What is received by all believers? What experi-
ence does this bring?
8.
What is the only basis of salvation for all times
and for all peoples?
9.
Is there any different plan for the Jew than for
the Gentile?
To. What experience does this way of salvation
bring to those who accept it?
1. What did the Papacy take away? What changes
did it make in God's way of salvation?
12.
What does D'Aubigne say was the cause of the
fall of the church?
13.
What does he state to be necessary for her res-
toration?
14.
What consequences would follow the reestab-
lishment of this fundamental truth of Christianity?
15.
Of how much importance did Luther regard the
doctrine of justification by faith?
16.
What connection did Luther make between this
great truth and the first promise of the gospel?
17.
What statement of the Scripture was the cre-
ative sentence for the Reformation?
18.
What message is to be given in the present
generation?
19.
What definite call is to be sounded throughout
the world?
20.
What truth must be the inspiration and the power
for this work?
21.
What must be the purpose of the third angel's
message?
22.
What is the only way in which this purpose can
be accomplished?
"There shall be delay no longer"—our confidence.
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